Master Your Healthy Living Transition: Sugar Elimination

You are reading Post 1 of 11: Master Your Healthy Living Transition: Sugar Elimination, of the series: 10 Ultimate Ways To Master Your Healthy Living Transition!

The 10 Ultimate Ways to Master Your Healthy Living Transition series will help you get started on a successful healthy lifestyle transition! You will learn which foods to eliminate from your diet, why these foods should be eliminated, what foods you can substitute or replace them with and other helpful tools and resources.

The Series

This is post 1 of 11 in the mastery series, 10 Ultimate Ways to Master Your Healthy Living Transition. This in-depth series will help you get started on a successful healthy lifestyle transition!

Do you find yourself asking questions like, “How do you live a healthier lifestyle? What exactly does it mean to transition? What steps do I take to do it properly? Then this series is for you!

You will be learning which foods to eliminate from your diet. The reasons why you need to eliminate these foods from your diet will be explained to you as well. You will learn how to replace or substitute unhealthy food choices. There will also be other helpful links, tools and resources in this series.

This is a large amount of information for those of you transitioning to a healthier lifestyle. In order to make it easier to follow I broke it down into 10 detailed sections or posts. The 11th post will be the follow-up Mastery Guide, complete with all the links to each post, tools and resources. Read more: Post 2 Master Your Healthy Living Transition: Shopping Smarter

I suggest choosing a Journey Buddy, a spouse or friend that is interested in transitioning to a healthy lifestyle, to share your transition with. Pick a beginning date and join the Nourish. Heal. Live! community on social media. And don’t forget to Ask Tina C. any health and wellness related questions if you get stuck along the way.

Begin Your Transition

For most of us, the phrase “eating healthy” means following a rigid set of rules, or diet, for a brief amount of time. Typically, most people diet when they want to lose weight for an event or when the doctor requests it for their health. You should be learning by now, that eating healthy is not just a fad diet that lasts a few weeks.

Truly, you should be eating healthy everyday. Eating healthy is a way of life! You have the choice to live a healthy lifestyle.

For most people, transitioning to a healthier lifestyle can be stressful and overwhelming. Change isn’t always easy, nor is it always difficult. Learning to live differently takes will power, motivation and support.

Some people have a tendency to fear change which keeps them locked into unhealthy lifestyles. Then there are the others who make some changes, but end up going back to old habits. There are also those that can pick up new ideas, run with them and score instantly. Ultimately, I think many people want to live healthier, but lack proper motivation and support to keep them on a successful track.

Since transitioning is such a huge subject there’s so many things that need to be addressed. There are things that you will be experiencing, like healing crisis and emotional and physical breakdowns and changes. You will be doing different things than you did living on the Standard American Diet (SAD). You are going to be learning new things in your transition. We need to make sure you learn, understand and change gradually so that you can continue to live healthier for your lifetime.

Defining Diet

Changing your diet is a very in-depth topic and can be quite intimidating. If you’ve been eating a Standard American Diet (SAD) for 20, 40 or 60 years it will be tough for you to learn new ways of eating. It will be stressful and exciting learning to eat and prepare foods that you have never eaten, in ways that you have never eaten them. But know this: you can do it!

The majority of you will have to make changes in your diet during your transition to a healthier lifestyle. Most of us associate the word “diet” with programs like low carb, no carb, all protein, low fat, no fat and the numerous trademarked programs out there. So, let’s change how we define diet.

When I refer to diet I mean your eating habits. How you eat, what you eat, foods you put into your body is your diet. Throughout Nourish. Heal. Live! when you see the word “diet” I will typically be referring to food. That’s it, your diet is the food you eat. I will get into the different diet lifestyles such as, Veganism, Vegetarianism and Raw, in future posts.

I hope that you have a basic understanding of what Nourish. Heal. Live! is all about, from reading Welcome to Nourish. Heal. Live! I’ve given you 5 Easy Ways to Start Living Healthy Today, so that you could get a jump start on your healthy transition. Now, let me give you the 10 Ultimate Ways To Master Your Healthy Living Transition, so that you can have a successful transition into a healthy lifestyle!

I lived over 35 years on a Standard American Diet (SAD) and know all about how a transition feels. The frustrations, the struggles and the triumphs! If you’re ready for a healthy change and to live a healthy lifestyle, I’m ready to help get you there. Let’s get started!

Sugar Sugar

We’re going to start with Post 1: Master Your Healthy Living Transition: Sugar Elimination. The first way that you can Master your healthy transition, is by taking sugar out of your diet! I know you’re probably cringing right now. Your stomach has tightened, you are flash-backing through images of your favorite sweet treats and your anxiety level is increasing. Yes, I have been there too!

All sugar, whether natural or processed, is a type of simple carbohydrate your body uses for energy. In order for our body to function, grow and replicate cells, we need a sugar called glucose. It is the only sugar our body needs.

Our body is so complex that it can make the glucose it requires by breaking down carbohydrates, proteins and fats that we eat. There are sugars found in natural foods like: fruits, vegetables, and milks. These sugars are healthy sugars. When you eat fruits and vegetables you are eating nutrients, dietary fiber and natural sugars that your body needs to create glucose in order to function properly.

“Sugar-containing foods in their natural form, whole fruit, for example, tend to be highly nutritious—nutrient-dense, high in fiber, and low in glycemic load. On the other hand, refined, concentrated sugar consumed in large amounts rapidly increases blood glucose and insulin levels, increases triglycerides, inflammatory mediators and oxygen radicals, and with them, the risk for diabetes, cardiovascular disease and other chronic illnesses,” stated Dr. Ludwig, according to Harvard Health Publication: Artificial Sweeteners: Sugar-free, but at what cost?1

We may look fine on the outside, but too much sugar can cause big issues on the inside. Sugar overuse can lead to tooth decay and the build up of harmful fats on the inside of our bodies. These fats surround vital organs and can lead to serious health risks and diseases such as:2

Weight gain

Type 2 diabetes

Heart disease

Some cancers

Liver disease

I know, it sounds ridiculous right? Most people love sweet treats and sodas. Is sugar really that bad for us? What about artificial or zero calorie sweeteners? What do the Scientists say about sugar? Let’s find out.

Sugar Intake

Unlike salt and fats that are added to foods, nutrition labels do not provide you with a daily reference value for added sugar. The American Heart Association (AHA) recommends no more than:

9 teaspoons (38 grams) of added sugar per day for men

6 teaspoons (25 grams) per day for women

3-6 teaspoons (12 – 25 grams) per day for children, depending on their age and caloric needs

Two out of three adults and one out of three children in the United States are overweight or obese, and the nation spends an estimated $190 billion a year treating obesity related health conditions. Rising consumption of sugary drinks has been a major contributor to the obesity epidemic. A typical 20-ounce soda contains 15 to 18 teaspoons of sugar and upwards of 240 calories.4 How much soda or sweet tea are you drinking each day?

Added Sugars

Added sugars are the sugars and syrups that manufacturers add when they are processing foods. Foods containing added sugars contribute extra calories to your diet. Those foods normally provide you with zero nutritional value.

Sugars are added to processed foods to make them more appetizing. Let’s look at a few examples.

Sodas

Energy drinks

Sweet desserts

Snack foods

Cereals

Butters and shortenings

Not all added sugars are added for increasing the appetizing aspect. Sugar can also help preserve foods like jams and jellies. Fermentation is fueled by sugars, an example would be rising of bread. Acidic foods, like canned tomatoes or tomato sauces, are balanced by the addition of sugars. Sugars can also be added to amplify flavor, texture and color.

Sugar itself isn’t necessarily bad. Our consumption levels of sugar is the bad part. Sugar is being added during the manufacturing of the majority of foods we eat on the Standard American Diet (SAD). Being aware of what we are putting into our bodies is a key element to cutting back on those added sugars.

Nutrition Labels

Reading labels is a must when living a healthy lifestyle. In order to begin eliminating sugars from your diet you need to learn how to read food labels. We will be discussing how to read food labels in-depth in post 8 of 11 in the mastery series: 10 Ultimate Ways to Master Your Healthy Living Transition.

Food labels, like the one pictured below, is what you find on the majority of food items available in stores. A food label is a panel found on a package of food that contains information about the nutritional value of the food item. There are many pieces of information which are standard on food labels, including serving size, number of calories, grams of fat, included nutrients, and a list of ingredients.5

How to Understand and Use the Nutrition Facts Label Credit: FDA

On May 20, 2016, the FDA announced the new Nutrition Facts label for packaged foods to reflect new scientific information, including the link between diet and chronic diseases such as obesity and heart disease. The new label will make it easier for consumers to make better informed food choices. FDA published the final rules in the Federal Register on May 27, 2016.6

Label Awareness

Pay attention to the line that says, “Total Carbohydrates”. Carbohydrates are a large group of organic compounds in foods that include sugars, starch, and dietary fiber. Carbs are also broken down by the body, where starches become sugars. We want to focus on two lines under “Total Carbohydrates” one being “Total Sugars” and the other being “Includes Added Sugars”.

As you can see in the picture above, “Includes Added Sugars” was just added to the food label May 2016. This is a huge step forward for our society of increasing waist lines, diabetes, heart disease and cancer. We will now be able to tell exactly how much sugar the manufacturers are adding into our foods during processing!

Currently, added sugar is hiding in 74% of packaged foods. There are at least 61 different names for sugar listed as ingredients on food labels. These include common names, such as sucrose and high-fructose corn syrup, as well as barley malt, dextrose, maltose and rice syrup, among others.7 Please note, if an ingredient ends in “ose” or the word “syrup”, it is sugar.

Just wait until you check out the new labels on foods you buy on a regular basis. Then remember the AHA sugar intake suggested amounts per day that I listed above. Calculate how much added sugar you have been taking in and compare the AHA suggested amounts.

You will be shocked! If your sugar intake is typical of most people living on the SAD, then you will begin to understand why you have not lost weight. You will also begin to understand why your health has not improved.

Sugar Substitutes

Some people try cutting down on their overall sugar intake by drinking diet drinks and eating foods that are artificially sweetened. These are called sugar substitutes. Many of these sweeteners are sweeter than sugar, by far. You do not need very much to equal the same level of sweetness as table sugar.

The FDA has given the label “Generally Recognized as Safe” (GRAS), to five Non-Nutritive Sweeteners (NNS):

Aspartame (NutraSweet® and Equal®). Baking with Aspartame is not recommended. It loses its sweetness when in contact with high heat.

Acesulfame-K (Sweet One®)

Neotame

Saccharin (Sweet’N Low®)

Sucralose (Splenda®)

Stevia (Truvia® and PureVia®) doesn’t have a GRAS distinction, but that doesn’t mean it is dangerous. That means there isn’t enough evidence to determine that it is or is not safe.8

The use of NNSs does allow people to lower their intake of sugar. This is especially true with soda and sweet tea drinkers if they switch to artificially sweetened drinks. Diabetics can still enjoy sweet treats and sodas in moderation and not overload their glucose levels when they switch to artificially sweetened products.

Safe or Not?

According to an article from 2015, found on Rodale’s OrganicLife, zero calorie sweeteners are not a good way to get your sweet fix.9 Here are the reasons the article states:

They trick your taste buds. Evidence suggests that exposing your taste buds to high-intensity sweeteners makes them less receptive to natural sources of sweetness such as fruit.

They trick your gut. The sweet taste sends a signal to your gut that a high calorie food is on its way, your gut anticipates foods that do not show up, it utilizes foods inefficiently causing your body to misread hunger signals.

They mess with your hormones. Hunger signals include hormone insulin. Your body tastes sweets which triggers the release of insulin. Insulin leads to blood sugar spikes, which increase cravings. Then you eat more.

They make you overeat. Artificially sweetened foods could trick you into overeating because of they way they feel in your mouth. They have a thinner consistency, texture and are less satisfying than sugar-sweetened foods.

They increase the risk of diabetes. Studies have found that diet soda drinkers have an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes. The theory is, people overeat when they think drinking diet drinks allows them to eat more.

They’re polluting your water. Being chemicals, artificial sweeteners don’t break down in the environment. Even when light, water and microbes are present. Swedish and Canadian researchers reported this for years.

They’re genetically modified. Artificial sweeteners like: sucralose, aspartame, neotame and erythritol can be made from corn, soy, or sugar beets. In the US, the majority of those three crops have been genetically altered.

Since 1878 when saccharin was discovered by a chemist working with coal tar, a cancer-causing material, the safety of artificial sweeteners has been questioned. In the last 150 years there has been a vast amount of conflicting research. To date, researchers have found no clear evidence that any artificial sweeteners approved for use in the U.S. cause cancer or other serious health problems in humans. Of course, the best sweeteners to use are those that occur naturally.

Sugar Studies

Many medical studies have been performed over the years in attempts to understand sugar intake, sugar and weight control, sugar and obesity and many more. Here are a few to note:

A 20-year study on 120,000 men and women found that people who increased their sugary drink consumption by one 12-ounce serving per day gained more weight over time. On average, an extra pound every 4 years. than people who did not change their intake.

Other studies have found a significant link between sugary drink consumption and weight gain in children.

One study found that for each additional 12-ounce soda children consumed each day, the odds of becoming obese increased by 60% during 1½ years of follow-up.

People who consume sugary drinks regularly, 1 to 2 cans a day or more, have a 26% greater risk of developing type 2 diabetes than people who rarely have such drinks. Risks are even greater in young adults and Asians.

A study that followed 40,000 men for two decades found that those who averaged one can of a sugary beverage per day had a 20% higher risk of having a heart attack or dying from a heart attack than men who rarely consumed sugary drinks. A related study in women found a similar sugary beverage and heart disease link.

A 22-year study of 80,000 women found that those who consumed a can a day of sugary drink had a 75% higher risk of gout than women who rarely had such drinks. Researchers found a similarly-elevated risk in men.

Studies in children and adults have found that by reducing sugary drink intake can lead to better weight control, especially in those who are already overweight. The World Health Organization (WHO) has finally put new guidelines out regarding sugar and health, that call upon all countries to reduce the consumption of added sugar. 10 That is improvement!

Hiding Places

We all enjoy that instant satisfaction that we get from sugar. We love our sugary cakes and treats during times of feast and celebration. Some people turn to sweet treats and drinks when they need comfort or reward. Sugar plays a large part in many of our lives and our health issues.

Many of us don’t realize how much we are overindulging. Some of us try to eat healthier and still we see no improvements. Even those of us that do not intentionally eat a lot of sugar are getting more than we want.

So many everyday processed foods are packed with hidden sugar. The companies producing these products rely on gimmicks to get your money. Packaging that says, “All Natural” or “Whole Grains” should catch your attention. Take a look at these:

Breakfast bars. A breakfast bar made with “real fruit” and “whole grains” can contain 3 teaspoons (15 grams) of sugar per serving.

Cereal. A single cup of bran cereal with raisins, in a box advertising “no high-fructose corn syrup,” contains 4 teaspoons (20 grams) of sugar per serving.

Yogurt. One leading brand of yogurt contains 6 teaspoons (29 grams) of sugar per serving.

Low-fat and ‘diet’ foods. Extra sugar can be found in diet and low-fat foods. It is used to help improve the taste, palatability and to add bulk and texture in the place of fat.

Soups and sauces. Even ready-made soups and sauces may contain added sugar.

Drinks. Sugar can be found in many sodas, juice mixes, drink powders, energy drinks, etc.

Produce. Natural sugar levels in some fruits are increasing due to new varieties. These varieties are being bred to satisfy our desire for greater sweetness.

Read the food labels and be aware of how much added sugars are in the products that you purchase. Pay attention to those attention grabbing words like, “Natural” and “Real Fruit”. Now that you are informed about sugar, we will discuss how to eliminate sugar from your diet!

Facing Fears

For now, take a deep breath and relax, don’t stress. You just learned a lot of information. Bookmark this page and read it over and again throughout your transition to help you retain it.

No, I do not want you to toss out all of your treats or bags of sugar tucked away in your pantry. Your transition should be a gradual process. I want to guide you through your transition slowly so that you understand what you are doing and why you are doing it, along the way.

During your transition you will be learning how to substitute healthier sugar alternatives for refined sugars. You will be reading labels and making smarter choices at the store. You will be looking for those hidden sugars in everything that you put into your body.

Eliminating sugar is hard! You will feel angry, anxious, resentful and stressed. When you start to feel those emotions pushing against you, own it! That is change happening! You are working on your own fears and emotions surrounding your sugar addiction.

Feel the feelings and then move forward. Tell yourself every time you feel that emotional push-back, that you are taking control of your health and that sugar will not control you. Nor will you allow companies to profit, while they sabotage your health.

Over To You

Sugar completely lacks nutritional value. On top of that, it also depletes the body of enzymes, minerals and vitamins, specifically B-vitamins. Some indications of a B-vitamin deficiency include: fatigue, depression, anxiety, inability to concentrate, poor memory, insomnia, irregular heart beat, swollen tongue, dry skin around the nose and cracking around the lips. A B-12 deficiency can lead to a blood disorder called pernicious anemia.

And we already know that it can cause diseases such as: diabetes, heart disease and cancers. I think it is fair to say that no other food contributes to as many health problems. And even though artificial sweeteners may help lower your sugar intake they are still the source of much debate and are associated with weight gain, increased cravings for sweets, decreased mental function, diabetes, seizures and migraine headaches.

If you want to become healthy and live a healthy lifestyle, eliminating sugar from your diet is the best place to start. When you are ready, continue reading for information on how you can get started today!

Get Started

You can start this process of elimination by doing the following:

Less sugar. Use less refined white sugar in your cooking and eventually stop purchasing bags of white sugar.

Choose a healthier sugar substitute. Natural or artificial sweeteners will work during your transition. Natural is best.

Look For It

Discover how much sugar is in your food by doing these simple checks:

Carbohydrates. Look at the Total Carbohydrates, Total Sugars and Includes Added Sugar lines on the nutrition label. Make sure that added sugars are not listed as one of the first few ingredients on the label.

Sugar names. Watch out for these names for added sugars: corn syrup, high-fructose corn syrup, fruit juice concentrate, maltose, dextrose, sucrose, honey, and maple syrup. If it ends in “ose” or “syrup” it is sugar.

Know your substitutes. Xylitol, sorbitol and mannitol. These occur naturally in small amounts in plants and fruits and are often used in low-calorie products to provide sweetness but with fewer calories.

Less Sugar

Making a few adjustments to your diet can help you cut down on sugar consumption:

Reduce the sugar you add to drinks. Do so gradually to give your taste buds time to adjust. Use natural sweeteners and alternative sweeteners instead of sugar.

Avoid low-fat ‘diet’ treats which tend to be high in sugars. Instead eat smaller portions of the regular versions of your favorite treats.

Sugar-free foods can lead to overeating. These often contain synthetic sweeteners that taste sweet, but they don’t satisfy a sweet tooth. They tend to send confusing messages to the brain, which can lead to over-eating.

Kids tend to develop a preference for sweets when they grow up eating a lot of sweet foods. If you feed them a variety of healthy foods such as: fruits, vegetables and whole grains early in life, they will have a preference for those instead.

It is important for parents to expose their children to a variety of foods. It will take a few attempts to get a child to eat foods that are new to them. Do not give up!

Repeat to yourself over and over, “They will eat what is offered to them. They will be okay. I can get through this.” Good health starts with eating a well-balanced diet loaded with a variety of foods. And remember kids need plenty of physical activity. Small improvements are still improvements, keep going!

Read Up

As always, you should do your own research. Continue learning about sugar, sugar substitutes and how they both affect your body. You can do a simply search for “Sugar and Health” or “Sugar and Disease”. Also, when visiting the sites that I recommend, please search for “Sugar” in their website search bar. A few websites that I recommend are:

American Heart Association www.heart.org

Sugar Science www.sugarscience.org

National Institutes of Health www.nhlbi.nih.gov

There are also several books on this subject that I would suggest you to read. You can write down the names of the books that I suggest and check them out at your local libraries. If they do not have the titles you are searching for, ask them if they can get it for you. Most public libraries will be able to provide that service. You can also purchase your own copies by clicking the pictures below.

On To Post 2

You have read Post 1 of 11: Master Your Healthy Living Transition: Sugar Elimination, of the series: 10 Ultimate Ways To Master Your Healthy Living Transition!

Today, you learned the reasons why you need to eliminate sugar from your diet. You learned about ways to eliminate sugar slowly from your diet. And you learned how to find it hidden in the foods you purchase for consumption.

The 10 Ultimate Ways to Master Your Healthy Living Transition mastery series will help you successfully transition to a healthy lifestyle! This is a large amount of information for those of you transitioning to a healthier lifestyle. In order to make it easier to follow I broke it down into 10 detailed sections or posts. The 11th post will be the follow-up guide, complete with links, tools and resources. Please bookmark the series. A new post in the series will be available each week!

Remember, you have the choice to live a healthy lifestyle. Eating healthy is a way of life! Change isn’t always easy, nor is it always difficult. I hope that you continue to succeed on your healthy living transition.

If you are not yet on one, keep reading, you might change your mind. If you just began one, keep going, you got this! I will see you in post 2!

P.S. For your benefit, find a Journey Buddy to share your transition stresses and successes with. Pick a beginning date and join the Nourish. Heal. Live! community on social media. And don’t forget to Ask Tina C. any health and wellness related questions if you have questions along the way. Remember to Download your FREE tools!

Did I miss something? Do you need further detail? Please let me know what you think about Master Your Healthy Living Transition: Sugar Elimination in the comments below.

Trying To Lose Weight? Stay Away From Artificial Sweeteners No-cal is no good way to get your sugar fix. Emily Main. http://www.rodalesorganiclife.com/food/trying-lose-weight-stay-away-artificial-sweeteners ↩

Tina C. is the founder and editor of Nourish. Heal. Live!. She is also a freelance blogger, writer and wellness coach. She teaches about transitioning to a healthy lifestyle and nutrition offline and online. In 2013 Tina C. began her own healing journey and transition with her spouse and children. Tina C. likes travelling, hiking, collecting handmade pottery and writing utensils.

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This is exactly what I needed since I am trying to fight my soda-pop addiction even though in general I do not consume any other form of sugar except naturals (veg, fruit). Excellent article, reading it in depth.

Reducing my (bad) carbs and sugar intake is the hardest thing for me. I can do it but it’s hard to stick to. However, I see the results when I do reduce them and see the results when I fall off the wagon. Thanks for these reminders!

Marsha, I have had my relapses too. I love bread! But it was a gradual process. You are trying and that is important. Keep going, choose healthier alternatives and see if it works for you longer. Don’t just remove them from your diet. Some people do and it is instant failure. You got this!

I have been wanting to eliminate sugar for a while now, and because I love lots of sweet things, I kept trying to find the best way to go about it. This post is so clear, concise and detailed. A wealth of information loaded in here. I will bookmark and try out the tips and suggestions. This post is really motivating me to begin my sugar elimination journey.

Sheri, thank you! It is a lot of information. Remember to check out the series post each week. You can definitely eliminate sugar! Just for those of you (ME) that love sweet treats and think it is hard read today’s post: The Best 6 Two Ingredient Recipes/! One day at a time, you got this Sheri!

Hey! This post couldn’t be written any better! Reading this post reminds me of my previous room mate! He always kept talking about this. I will forward this write-up to him. Fairly certain he will have a good read. Many thanks for sharing!

I heard a big no no to sugars which I always usually look at the sugar content and when I see sugars with like 27 and up I try not to purchase it because that is a lot of sugar and I don’t drink soda because of how much sugar is in it too. It’s so hard to diet though in my opinion it’s like I need a home chef diet person to guide me through everything. LOL

I am following the Daniel Plan and doing the 40 day plan with no caffeine, sugar, processed foods or alcohol. This post is very helpful in making me more committed to reducing my sugar intake. Sweets in the form of pastries are my downfall, so I stay away from the bakery section of my grocery store and don’t bring any into my house.

Thanks so much for all of your hard work in putting this together. Looking forward to the next step. Cheryl

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